Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Sanders joins Snapchat

NEW YORK, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Democratic U.S. presidential
candidate Bernie Sanders joined Snapchat on Monday, becoming the
latest contender in the 2016 White House race to join the social
media app popular with teens and millennials.

On his official Twitter account (@BernieSanders), the
74-year-old U.S. senator from Vermont announced that he had
joined Snapchat: "What is this Snapshot thing and why do I only
get ten seconds?"

Snapchat, a messaging app particularly popular among people
ages 18 to 24, a desirable group of potential voters, allows its
almost 200 million users to send photo messages that disappear
in seconds.

Sanders joined Snapchat as "bernie.sanders" and just hours
later posted his first "Snap Story," a string of snaps that
lasts for 24 hours instead of just few seconds: "3, 2, 1 ...
We're off to Cleveland. Join the political revolution. Help us
make real change in America."

Sanders has been active on social media, especially on
Twitter, although the number of his followers is far lower than
his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. Sanders has 873,000
followers while Clinton has 4.7 million. She joined Snapchat in
August.

Other presidential candidates on Snapchat include
Republicans Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Chris Christie, Carly
Fiornia and Jeb Bush, as well as Rick Perry, who in September
suspended his campaign.